A Blessed Arrangement
by iamjustmesam
Summary: Hermione is raised by the Malfoys after her mother gave her up. Will she be able to forgive her parents?
1. A New Beginning

Winter, 1983

The pretty blonde sat beside her older, black-haired sister, watching the elder's daughter run through the Muggle playground, playing in the snow.

"She's gotten so big, Andromeda. How long until she's due for school?" Narcissa asked her sister, purposefully not mentioning the name 'Hogwarts'.

"Call me Andy, please. 3 or 4 years." Andy replied sadly, pulling her coat further around her. Dora was all she had left, with her husband dead.

A commotion behind them broke Andy from her reverie. A brown haired woman was screaming and shaking a child, who appeared to be crying. The only words Cissy could catch made her glow with rage.

"I never should have listened to him! He said I'd grow to love you, but I've never felt anything but contempt for you! I never wanted children and now I'm stuck with you forever!"

Narcissa, forgetting her prim upbringing entirely, stalked over to the rude woman and terrified child. "Release the child carefully, and I'll do you no harm." The young blond growled.

"Who the fuck are you?" The muggle snarled "Are trying to tell me how to live my life? Fuck off!"

"Release the child carefully, and I'll do you no harm." Narcissa repeated, wishing she could Crucio the brunette for abusing the little girl. "If you insist on me telling you how to live, I'll tell you to never be around children again."

"Monica! What are you doing, Monica?" The women heard from behind them, seeing a rotund man heading towards them.

"Gladly," Monica continued glaring at Narcissa. She picked up the little girl and shoved her into Narcissa's arms.

"What's going on?" The young man asked, having reached the two upset women.

"I'm done with that fucking monster, Wendell! I can't do it anymore! The blonde bitch can keep her for all I care!" Monica screamed and the man who appeared to be her husband.

Narcissa stared at the couple, feeling like she'd been confounded. The man, Wendell, looked at the girl sitting in Narcissa's arms, stated a simple, "Take good care of her, please." And walked off with his ranting wife.

"What just happened?" Cissy wondered out loud, looking down and the fluffy-haired child in her arms.

AN: Credit to DarkDaisies for the idea of Narcissa taking Hermione from her mother. I used Monica and Wendell as Hermione/Lauren's parents due to them not having any other names in the books.


	2. Hope

**December, 1983**

"What's your name?" Narcissa asked the girl on her lap, who had recently discovered her ability to shake in fear.

"Lauren Granger" The girl mumbled.

"Lovely to meet you, Lauren. My name is Narcissa, but you can call me Cissa if you want to." She smiled at Lauren, who curled closer into Cissa's lap.

"Why did mummy not like me, Cissa?" Lauren asked with wide eyes.

"I don't know, Lauren. I don't know."

'O-O'

"Who is this simpering infant, Narcissa?" Lucius growled at his wife, "And why is she in my house?"

"Lucius, I will explain everything over a cup of tea." Narcissa purred, "Or Firewhiskey, if you prefer."

Lucius commanded the house-elf to bring a large tea platter with sandwiches, thinking this would be a long explanation. Cissa sat the young girl on the floor, putting one of her own son's toys in front of her, then took her own seat at the large cedar table.

"I will have to admit a secret to completely explain how I got the girl." Narcissa started, her stare warning Lucius to let her get the full story out before he said anything. "I have been meeting with Andromeda in muggle parks, so I could see my niece grow up. Her name is Nymphadora, and she is 8 years old as of about a month ago." She went on to explain Monica's outburst, and her husband's giveaway of the child without a single backwards glance.

"We cannot possibly keep a muggle child, Narcissa! We don't know if she'll even be magical! And if she is, why should the Malfoy house suffer their pureblood image for a filthy Mudblood?" Narcissa waited for her husband to return to his seat and stop steaming from the ears before continuing.

"You will never speak of the child in that manner again as long as you shall live. I will take her to St. Mungo's first thing in the morning to see if they can tell. If she is not magical, I will personally find a good muggle home for her." Narcissa held up one hand to stop Lucius' words before they left his mouth, "If she is magical, we will raise her as our ward. We will raise this child as if I had birthed her myself. Do you understand, Mr. Malfoy?" The blond man stared at his wife incredulously.

"I will do no-"

"You will do as you are instructed, Lucius."

`O-O'

Lauren didn't want to be in the room with Cissa and the man with the long hair when they were arguing, so she went exploring. She toddled up the grand stairs and down the hallway that she thought was entirely too long for a normal house. Suddenly, she heard something hit a wall down one of the side halls. She followed the sound to a room about halfway down, and knocked on the door. A little boy with short white hair and light blue eyes opened the door.

"Hello." Lauren chirped, excited to have met another child around her age.

"Who are you?" The boy sneered, "Why are you in my house?"

"Miss Cissa brought me here when mummy didn't want me anymore. Monica was my mummy, but I think Cissa is my new mummy." The little boy looked very confused, "My name is Lauren."

Lauren shrunk back at the sound of the boy's shriek, "MOTHER! THERE'S A LITTLE GIRL IN OUR HOUSE!"

Narcissa came running to the boy's room, thankful the girl hadn't wandered outside to meet the vicious peacocks that roamed the grounds. "Draco! Behave yourself! You know better than to scream at guests. This is Lauren Granger. She will be staying with us for a few days. Lauren, this is Draco Malfoy, my son."

"Hi, Draco. Can I play with you?" The girl asked the floor between her and Draco's door.

"Yes! I always wanted a sister! Thank you, Mother!" The two children disappeared into the playroom, Lauren yelling about something called 'Cowboys and Indians' or something.

Narcissa just stood and listened to the children play and hoped beyond all likelihood that the girl had magic in her blood.

\- `O-O' -

A/N: I am working on longer chapters. This is my first real try at a longer fic, so be honest!


	3. A New Name

Narcissa held the young girl close until they popped safely into the lobby at St. Mungo's. "I'd like to see Healer Clearwater." She demanded of the desk witch, who scurried off like her seat was on fire. Less than a minute later, the young man came around the corner and stopped dead in his tracks. "Hello, Healer Clearwater."

"Hello, Mrs. Malfoy. What can I help you with?" Clearwater asked, his eyes never leaving the bushy-haired girl clinging to the woman's leg. "And who is this young beauty?"

"This is Lauren. Say hi, darling." Cissa waved Lauren's arm since the little girl seemingly had no desire to do so. "She is my ward, Walter. Could we speak in private?"

"Yes, of course. Right this way, Miss Lauren." Walter held his hand out for Lauren, who took it eagerly. Healer Clearwater led them down a series of hallways toward the far side of the hospital, and finally into a room, empty apart from a bed. "Why are you here, Narcissa? You'd never bring a muggle here without a reason, I'm sure?"

"I'm not an imbecile, Walter. I need you to see if she has magic." Cissa stated nonchalantly, expecting resistance from the man.

"Gladly." Narcissa gaped, "You cannot be in the room, Narcissa. The spell will drain me, and would most likely you, as well. If you plan on apparating this girl home, you'll need to wait outside."

Narcissa turned to Lauren, who had laid down on the bed and was nearly asleep. "Lauren? Will you be okay in here with just Healer Clearwater? I'll be right outside if you need me, okay?" Lauren nodded and sat up, blinking sleepily.

"Hurry, pwease." The girl asked, and fixed her eyes on her swinging feet.

"Of course. Narcissa." He pointed to the door and she disappeared, firmly closing the door.

`O-O'

Narcissa had to pull on every second of her pureblood upbringing to keep from falling asleep in the hallway. Whatever was happening in the hospital room was definitely leaking into the hall and draining every ounce of strength from the witch. As soon as she decided to walk to the end of the strip to get out of range, and hopefully get enough strength back to apparate back to the Manor, she heard crying through the locked door. "Lauren? Open the door, Clearwater! Let me in! Lauren?" Cissa's voice rose to a scream. Then, the door swung open to reveal the young man lying, passed out, on the floor with the little girl crying over him, trying to wake him up. "Lauren? What happened, darling?"

"Cissa!" Lauren ran to her arms, "I tilled him! I don't mean to, Cissa! Pwease don't be mean to me, I don't mean to tilled him!" The girl cried, backing away from the slumped body.

Narcissa shushed the girl, wiping the tears from her terrified expression, "You didn't kill him, darling. He's just sleeping. He'll wake up, I promise." Cissa smiled at the girl.

`O-O'

Healer Clearwater woke to two very worried witches by the bed. He tried to sit up, but found he couldn't move. Remembering what knocked him out, he shied away from the young girl.

"Let him move, Lauren. He's not going to hurt you, I promise." Narcissa whispered. An invisible weight lifted, and the Healer was able to sit upright.

"Is she controlling it already? How long have I been out, Cissa?"

"A couple hours at most. She is the most powerful child I've ever seen. I got the answer I wanted." Narcissa stood and gathered her things, "We only stayed to make sure she hadn't actually hurt you."

`O-O'

Narcissa was watching her little boy alternate between sulking and playing with interest. Lauren was creating butterfly-like bubbles for Draco to pop. The room was soon filled to the brim with the little fluttering insects because he refused to pop the bubbles for fear of hurting the animals. Lucius was furious when he walked in the drawing room and found bubble juice on the wallpaper. Cissa braced for the lecture, but it never came.

"Why'd you let her do this?" He asked calmly.

"Draco was enjoying it at first." Cissa stated, pointing to the child hiding under the grand piano.

"Draco?" The boy slowly walked towards his father, "Do you like this girl?" Draco just shook his head no. "Why not? And please do use your words, Draco."

"Too good." The tot spoke, "She nice and pretty and good at magic, too! It not fair!" Seeing his parents didn't agree that it wasn't fair for the girl to be good at everything, he stomped off to play with something he was good at.

"We need to change her name, Narcissa. I will not have a Muggle growing up in my house." Lucius intonated

"I certainly agree that her name needs alteration. I will take care of it. And, if you must be reminded, I handle all of the finances. This is more my house than it is yours, and I will not have such language in my presence." And with that, Cissa left the room to allow Lucius to soak in the sting of that slap.

`O-O'

Lauren wandered into the library where Cissa was staring intently at a map of constellations. "Hey, darling. Want to help?" She turned and lifted the young witch onto her lap. "I'm picking your new name. Which constellation do you like? It will be your middle name." Lauren pointed to one in the middle of the map, the shape of a zig-zag.

"Dat one." Lauren said with finality.

"Cassiopeia? Good pick. That is one of my favorites. It was named for a very beautiful Queen. She was so confident in her beauty, the gods became angry and put her in the sky."Cissa looked thoughtful, "How do you like Hermione?" The little girl nodded enthusiastically.

"What would you like for lunch, Hermione Cassiopeia Granger?

`O-O'


End file.
